In vitro culture of a cell or tissue (hereinafter simply “cell”) requires maintaining proper conditions such as temperature and humidity. In research or laboratory settings, often laboratory or cell culture plates (hereinafter simply “laboratory culture plates”) are used. The laboratory culture plates generally comprise a plurality of wells that are designed to hold cells and culture medium. Typically a cell is placed in a culture fluid in a floating stateor fixed to an inside surface, or contained within a gel in which an ingredient of the culture fluid is added. Alternatively, the cell is transplanted in a material such as a matrix, a scaffold, a carrier or a mold. The cells are then allowed to proliferate and grow within the laboratory culture plates under proper conditions.
While laboratory culture wells are useful in holding individual cells and culture mediums separate from other wells, the overall design of laboratory culture plates makes it difficult to control the temperature. To control the cell culture temperature, typically the entire laboratory culture plate is placed in a temperature controlled environment such as an incubator, oven, a refrigerator, a freezer or a container filled with ice. Thus, conventional methods for controlling the temperature of laboratory culture plates requires a relatively large apparatus compared to the size of laboratory culture plates for temperature control. Furthermore, these temperature control devices are generally not readily portable nor are these methods very quick or easy to conduct in a sterile environment (e.g. under a laboratory hood).
Therefore, there is a need for a laboratory culture plate temperature control device that is portable and/or relatively small.